If you’re looking for a story about cute, fluffy bunnies, then this isn’t really the book for you. Well, actually, hang on. There ARE cute, fluffy bunnies here, but don’t forget that even the title warns you that mutants abound.

1. I like stories that are smart-funny, not just slapstick-funny. Skye’s writing has that in spades. I loved all the word play in the book, most especially because I think my students will really appreciate his cleverness. I mean, the first chapter is called “Getting Squiddy with It”, for goodness’ sake.

2. Perry is a lovable character whom, I think, many people will be able to identify with. I would much rather stay indoors than enjoy the allergens outside – though for him, he’s avoiding newts, not ragweed. He seems to have a great relationship with his dad. I wish the author had explored more the reasons his mom isn’t in the picture, but it looks like Mr. Owens is really trying to be a good dad AND friend to Perry.

3. Rain is so annoying at first, and it takes quite a while for me to warm up to him. I suppose there’s not much to do on his island, but still. I’m glad he becomes less annoying towards the end.

4. I’m also glad that although there are hints of Perry blushing around Juliet, that storyline doesn’t dip into romance, which the story doesn’t need. If there’s to be another book with these characters, I’d be more interested in seeing how the friendship among Perry, Juliet, and Rain develop than in any potential love story. And even without a love plot, I’d love to read Perry’s awkwardness at dealing with girls.

5. One of the best things about this book is that it intersperses elements of graphic novels with the narrative structure. The artwork after every chapter not only provides back stories of Admiral Uli and the rest of the squids that Perry wishes were his friends, but it also serves to give readers a pause from the main story. For many of my kids who sometimes have a hard time getting through novels, this set-up is absolutely perfect.

6. The squid humour is great. Just thought I’d add that in again. Our library copy has already been borrowed and loved, so I know this will be a great hit amongst my kids who love funny, fast-paced stories with great art.

7. Teachers/parents, want to see if this is book is for your child/ren? Check out a sample here.

The best story backdrops are the ones that rip the main characters away from their natural habitats and pluck them into completely unknown worlds. In Jessica Taylor’s A Map for Wrecked Girls, you’re in for a treat: there are TWO main characters (and a boy) stuck on a deserted island. Only good things can come from this.

1. This story is about two sisters, and right there is the reason I wanted to read this. Henri and Emma (great names!) have been as close as close can be. They’re sisters and best friends and confidantes; they’re two halves of the same whole. But things can’t always stay the way they are. High school – and boys – get in the way. Maybe it’s because I have sisters of my own that I was so compelled to find out how they get through the story with the chasm between them that seems all too permanent. Can they even find their way back to each other?

2. More than what would happen to the girls on the island, I wondered what would happen to the girls’ relationship. This is what drives the book. I know some people might think that it’s too contrived to have them maroon on an island, eke out desperate means of surviving desperate times, and hope that somehow their mitigating circumstances will eventually lead them to reconciliation. In truth, I found the island survival part secondary to Emma and Henri surviving one another. When you’ve spent your entire life dependent on another person, how do you now live feet away but worlds apart?

3. I’m glad that Taylor doesn’t reveal the root of the girls’ problems until towards the end. It gives readers a chance to get into Emma’s shoes (sandals?) through her narration. I feel bad for what she did to Henri even though I didn’t even know what it was until the last few chapters. But because Emma is a completely reliable narrator, I knew that it must have been really bad. Imagine that, and attribute it to Taylor’s writing. I had all these wild theories running around in my head about what Emma could have possibly done, but even without knowing it, I felt like Henri’s anger towards her was completely justified because Taylor writes Emma’s thoughts so well.

4. Alex is so good. So flawed, so human, so intriguing. He treats the girls really well, especially considering he’s only known them for a few hours. It must be quite difficult to deal with trying to thrive on an island while wracked with guilt for his cousin. The best part about Alex is that he seems to really care about Emma, and he sees Henri for who she really is. I wish that there had been more to the story just because I wanted to read about Alex more. I know the story revolves, primarily, around Emma and Henri’s sistership, but Taylor sows the seeds for a great story revolving around Alex.

5. Actually, I feel like the three characters – Emma, Henri, and Alex – have so many more stories to tell. The novel is told from Emma’s perspective, but how great would it be to read Henri’s point of view of the whole mess as well? I want more of these three! And I want more of Jesse, the girls’ neighbour and long-time friend, who seems to be a beacon of stability in the girls’ lives.

6. I feel really, really bad for Gavin. Some people won’t agree. But I think that sometimes, we use age as a fair-weather weapon to brandish about when it suits us, sheathing it only when doing so works in our favour. There are so many other factors to consider.

1. I was really happy to encounter such a unique cast of characters in this story. They’re definitely not cookie-cutter protagonists. The four children – Kim, Kimo, Toby, and Pippa – find themselves thrown together by virtue of complicated parentage. They all share a mother or a father or both. This was a selling point for me, as I haven’t read enough stories where step-siblings get along with one another as these four do.

2. I love the setting of the island. Even though the kids live in a car, I like to imagine that they enjoy the weather and scenery on a regular basis. (I’d love to experience a warm rainfall on the beach of an island one day.) There’s also something about adventures being set on islands that I really like, although I’m not too fond of the show Lost or the novel Lord of the Flies.

3. This book was just okay for me, and this is the perfect example of a story that I felt lukewarm about but that my students loved. I mean … I had kids repeatedly asking for when the book would become available because their classmates really enjoyed the story. Just goes to show you, I guess.

4. One of the things I wasn’t too thrilled about was the way that the circumstances of the kids were treated very lightly. From time to time, Kim does stress over how to find a new place to live (because the kids are growing up and the car space is growing small), but I can’t imagine how the four of them get along the way they do without a home, even though (most of) their parents are still around. I mean, they live in a car with no reliable source of … practically anything. Maybe for the younger ones it’s really the only life they remember, but I don’t quite understand how they’re able to survive with the meagre allowance they get from their parents or how they’re able to live on a beach with no trouble from authority figures. The kids’ hardships were treated too lightly, almost trivially, for my liking, but for some of my students, this is exactly what they enjoyed. They liked that despite the Fitzgerald-Trouts’ circumstances, they still get through their days and find adventures in Ikea-type stores.

5. Spalding’s prose is very easy to get lost in. In spite of those struggle points mentioned above, I enjoyed immersing myself in the story of the children and life on the island. I read a few chapters aloud in class, and my students lapped them up.

6. The illustrations are gorgeous. They’re done by Sydney Smith whom I was really pleased to have met in January and who very graciously illustrated my copy with a palm tree (I LOVE palm trees), the beach, and the ocean. Check out his website for more eye candy.

7. I’m looking forward to the next book of this series, Knock About with the Fitzgerald-Trouts, which is slated for release in May 2017, because I do really want to know what happens to the kids. I felt rather cliffhangered at the end of this book, and my students felt the same. I’m hoping there’s a little more realism (when it comes to some of the heavy stuff) balanced with the adventures of the Fitzgerald-Trout clan. Oh, and I’m looking forward to exploring the island with the children once again.

Hello, Squinks. Let’s get back into the swing of things, shall we? This year’s March Break Bookcation will include a slew of some loved and hotly anticipated middle-grade titles. If you’ve read or are planning to read any of them, drop me a line!

D’abord, let me introduce you to Poptropica, a fabulous new graphic-novel adventure series that I think you will really love. I haven’t gotten my hands on this yet, but from the excerpts I’ve read, I just know that this book will be completely unputdownable.

First, the concept of the series was conceived by the brilliant mind of Jeff Kinney (that’s right the same guy behind the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series), and it is written by Jack Chabert … which is the nom de plume of Max Brallier (and you’ll remember him from the The Last Kids on Earth, which many of you just devoured). Second, it all begins with three kids – Oliver, Mya, and Jorge – on a hot-air-balloon ride, which goes swimmingly … until they crash-land on an unknown island. And when I say unknown, I mean the rest of the world has no idea it even exists. Or that there are extinct animals and some rather angry-looking Vikings. How could you not love this premise?

K is for Kensuke’s Kingdom, a story from Michael Morpurgo that will test your range of emotions. As you read all about Michael’s adventures in the Pacific Ocean, you’ll laugh at his antics, you’ll empathize with his ennui, you’ll fear for his life, and you’ll cry for the gift he receives but cannot keep. Keep some tissue at the ready!